Carnival in Greece

Last Sunday was the beginning of the Carnival, here in Greece. The Carnival is a quite a famous celebration, especially in some certain cities. The best events are supposed to be held in Patra. Patra is the third largest city of Greece. It is famous for its nightlife, since many young people study in the Universities there. During Carnival, many people from all over Greece gather in Patra in order to take part in the various events. Concerts, parades, music and dance performances fill the Carnival's schedule for a whole month.

However, some say that Patra becomes far too crowded during the Carnival and prefer another destination, where they could be a bit calmer in order to actually enjoy the parties without being lost among the hundreds of people. This is why many Greeks prefer Iraklio's Carnival. Iraklio is a city in the island of Crete. Its Carnival is also very famous, but it is a bit more low-key than the one in Patra. Many students invite their friends to join them in the celebration, while families who live in other parts of Crete gather in its capital, in order to enjoy this special time of year.

This doesn't mean that those two are the only cities which organize events. On the contrary, most cities have their own carnivals -in Attica, the biggest celebrations take place in Renti. During weekdays, little parties are being held, while the main events are every Sunday. Apart from the local parades and gatherings, more parties are organised in clubs, bars, restaurants or even in houses. Theme parties, where everyone dresses up -whether this means wearing a ready-made costume, or a custom-made one (those ones are usually the most original) or just accessorising with funny hats, colourful wigs or over-sized glasses.

The kids are thrilled with the carnival and this is why the teachers are also showing them how to make special crafts -masks or decorations. Usually, there is also a school Carnival party right before the end of the Carnival.

The last week of the Carnival is supposed to be the most intense one. There are contests with presents, individual and team awards for the best ones in the parade, as well as even more singing and dancing than before! The last Thursday of the Carnival is called “Tsiknopempti”. This means “the Thursday of tsikna”. “Tsikna” is the smoke that is in the atmosphere when there is a barbeque or when meat is being roasted in a grill etc. Everyone is supposed to eat meat on that day, because soon they will stop eating meat -I'll explain that in awhile. So, on Thursday all restaurants are filled with people and no one can find a table without having made a reservation on time. Others prefer to stay at home though, usually they gather in large groups in order to celebrate. After eating, there is usually traditional music, for the party to go on. Afterwards, comes the last Sunday of the Carnival. It marks the end of every happening and any kind of festive activity.

The next day is called “Clean Monday”, because it is the beginning of a time-period of cleansing, right before Easter. On this day, people can no longer eat meat for fourty days. They eat a special type of bread (the “lagana”), olives, seafood and a special type of sauce which is called “taramosalata”/“the salad of taramas”, which is a type of fish, from which it is produced. After the meal, a traditional sweet is served as a dessert -it is called “halvas”. From this day on, people can eat meat again on Easter Sunday. I should mention, though, that not many people follow that custom right now. Mostly traditional ones and religious ones are those who do not eat meat for fourty entire days. Most people just do that during the Easter week, while others don't do it at all. Another thing that happens on Monday is that families go out, so that the kids can fly a kite!